Vietnam retail sales strengthen

Vietnam retail sales rose 9.8 per cent in the first nine months of this calendar year, underpinning a raft of healthy economic data for the nation released this week.

Inflation reached zero in August, for the first time ever, which encouraged retail sales growth.

Gross domestic product rose 6.81 per cent in the third quarter, slightly higher than the second quarter’s revised figure of 6.47 per cent, according to data released by the General Statistics Office in Hanoi.

Analysts say the both sets of data show signs the overall economy is generally picking up.

“Vietnam is the only country with strong export growth amid contracting exports among its regional peers,” according to an ANZ Bank research note published this week.

The nation’s economic growth rate hit 6.5 per cent in the first nine months. Exports rose 9.6 per cent, imports climbed 15.9 per cent and there was a trade deficit of $100 million in September compared with a surplus of $347 million in August.

The Asian Development Bank forecasts Vietnam’s growth to accelerate during the second half of this year due to rising private consumption, export-oriented manufacturing, and Foreign Direct Investment.

However, it’s not entirely good news. Huynh The Du, a lecturer at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Ho Chi Minh City warned of the dangers of zero inflation: “It’ll become a challenge for economic expansion later if inflation continues to stay at this slow pace,” he told Bloomberg.